Double Bass Best cab for Upright?

[MrLenny1]

Bag End S15. Best sound for DB I have heard lately.

 

[robgrow]

Bag End S15. Best sound for DB I have heard lately.

I have an S15 and agree that it sounds great, although I don't enjoy moving it (too heavy for me).

 

[neddyrow]

I've never heard of bag end cabinets. It's piqued my interest. I love 2x10's. Anyone tried a 2x10 for upright? They seem to be geared towards electric but I like my Ampeg AV 210 for small gigs.

 

[shwashwa]

patitucci used the bag end back before his aguilar deal. im noticing that even though i use a high pass filter, im having luck with cabinets with good mid presence and maybe a little shy on the low end. the aguilar db 112 nt has me interested because they state that this is how its voiced. i have a thunderchild 112, and even with the ports plugged sometimes its muddy and mushy to me. anyone else notice this? i wonder if one of the cabs that have a 6" mid driver might be better for me, like a harathor, or a fearfull or baer?

 

[Jeff Bonny]

I have an S15 and agree that it sounds great, although I don't enjoy moving it (too heavy for me).

The S15 works well for me but it's not a comfortable one handed carry with a DB. Recently I've been trying out a Traynor TC112 that's half the weight. At first it seemed thin sounding compared to the S15 but apparently the Celestion neo it's loaded with has a noticeable break in period where the sound gets looser and warmer. This has definitely been the case over about three weeks of daily use. It's a very clear sounding cab with no no muddy bottom end. If you were looking for a lot of low end whump this is not the one but in an ensemble it seems to slot nicely without being at all boomy. And at $400 it's less money than cabs it compares favorably with like the Aguilar SL 112.

 

[DukeLeJeune]

patitucci used the bag end back before his aguilar deal. im noticing that even though i use a high pass filter, im having luck with cabinets with good mid presence and maybe a little shy on the low end. the aguilar db 112 nt has me interested because they state that this is how its voiced. i have a thunderchild 112, and even with the ports plugged sometimes its muddy and mushy to me. anyone else notice this? i wonder if one of the cabs that have a 6" mid driver might be better for me, like a harathor, or a fearfull or baer?

Hmmm, the math says the woofer in the TC112 would, if anything, be overdamped (too lean) with all the ports plugged. But the cabinet is arguably short on internal damping material compared to what one would normally see in a sealed box.

You might pick up a one-pound bag of Polyfill and stuff about 1/2 to 2/3 of it into the box through the ports, and then plug the ports back up. If you ever wanted to remove the woofer or grill, you'd have to remember to remove the Polyfill first (by removing one of the ports), so that it doesn't get caught in the threads of any of the woofer or grill mounting screws, as that would cause the screw to bind and spin the threaded Hurricane nut in the wood.

If the Polyfill doesn't make a worthwhile improvement, shoot me an e-mail.

 

[shwashwa]

Hmmm, the math says the woofer in the TC112 would, if anything, be overdamped (too lean) with all the ports plugged. But the cabinet is arguably short on internal damping material compared to what one would normally see in a sealed box.

You might pick up a one-pound bag of Polyfill and stuff about 1/2 to 2/3 of it into the box through the ports, and then plug the ports back up. If you ever wanted to remove the woofer or grill, you'd have to remember to remove the Polyfill first (by removing one of the ports), so that it doesn't get caught in the threads of any of the woofer or grill mounting screws, as that would cause the screw to bind and spin the threaded Hurricane nut in the wood.

If the Polyfill doesn't make a worthwhile improvement, shoot me an e-mail.

thanks duke. im wondering if im just trying to use the cab for something it wasnt designed for. it was designed to be ruler flat and full range right? you mentioned using it as a home audio speaker if needed. the upright just puts out so many lows, and even with the hpf and ports it gets alittle indistinct for me. i have the opportunity to try a cab this week that's voiced with less lows, and tweeterless too. i think id rather go with a different cab if it works then try to modify the thunderchild to do something it wasnt intended to do.

 

[WayneDupuis]

I built a small ported bass cab to use with my series ii Contra; which wants to see 2ohm load. They don't make one so...
Car audio Bassworx single ten cab with a high end 2ohm dual coil long throw speaker. Wired in series to 2 ohms. No tweeter...350 bucks
With an fDeck hooked into the effect loop, my ovation Nikki six in one channel and upright with Underwood in top input, I dial the mid down for upright/up for Ovation. Great focused acoustic tone monster.

 

[Eric Hochberg]

The Thunderchild 12 is one of the clearest double bass cabs I've ever used. What goes in comes out, IMO.

 

[shwashwa]

The Thunderchild 12 is one of the clearest double bass cabs I've ever used. What goes in comes out, IMO.

thats the problem. double bass filtered through the eyes of a piezo pickup usually sounds like crap. my whole theory is massive eq to get it back to what my bass is supposed to sound like. ive been having success with that theory. im normally very happy with duke's cab, but i was referring to trying it recently with an all tube amp with im really loving, but it puts out a ton of lows. might need a different cab for that amp. im trying a sealed tweeterless box this week

 

[DukeLeJeune]

thats the problem. double bass filtered through the eyes of a piezo pickup usually sounds like crap. my whole theory is massive eq to get it back to what my bass is supposed to sound like. ive been having success with that theory. im normally very happy with duke's cab, but i was referring to trying it recently with an all tube amp with im really loving, but it puts out a ton of lows. might need a different cab for that amp. im trying a sealed tweeterless box this week

Your plan sounds fine to me, I don't know a lot about piezo pickups but what I've heard is consistent with what you describe, and you'd probably be better served by a sealed cab designed with piezos in mind to begin with. Or you might check in with Mike Arnopol and see if he'd suggest one of his cabs for your situation, as I believe his cabs have low end articulation that is quite competitive with, and arguably perhaps superior to, a good sealed box (and superior to that of my current, vented cabs).

 

[Don Sibley]

(and superior to that of my current, vented cabs).

Hmm . . . the key word here being "current". What are you cooking up over there Duke?

 

[Eric Hochberg]

thats the problem. double bass filtered through the eyes of a piezo pickup usually sounds like crap.

You might want to try a Schertler Stat B. Not a piezo. I prefer it over Underwood, Full Circle, Realist and Lifeline on my basses.

 

[mattgreven]

I may be late to the party here, but I've been using a MarkBass CMD 102P 2x10 combo. It's fantastic for electric, and I'm very happy with the upright sound. I find that the EQ is flexible enough to get the sound right in the room, and the "kick-back" style works great for me and drummer to hear. The balanced line-out is handy as well. Just my $.02 as I hadn't seen MB represented in the comments yet! The light weight doesn't suck either.

 

[DukeLeJeune]

Hmm . . . the key word here being "current". What are you cooking up over there Duke?

Well my ego was (and still is) bruised by Mike's cabs, but I'm working on something compact (fits in a big cajon bag) that will hopefully challenge him on upright bass, in some ways at least (I told him my ideas and he thinks it's worth a try... he's a true friend). Most of the improvement over my TC112 will be in radiation pattern, as I think there's something that would work better specifically for upright bass on smaller gigs. I will also be increasing the woofer's power-to-weight (BL to moving mass) ratio, which (along with a different approach to port tuning and room interaction) will theoretically improve the low-end articulation. By how much remains to be seen.

Unless there's some last-minute glitch, my wife and I will be moving north of Dallas (McKinney perhaps) in early February, wihch will put us effectively in your neighborhood, so hopefully we can cross paths.